CBI questions Hooda in Manesar land deal case

New Delhi, May 15 (PTI) The CBI today questioned former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda for nearly nine hours in connection with the Manesar land deal case in which the land-owning farmers were caused a loss of about Rs 1,500 crore.

CBI spokesperson R K Gaur said here that 69-year-old Hooda has been questioned by the agency.

Sources said Hooda was called at the CBI office in Chandigarh where he arrived around 11 AM and was grilled over various aspects of the case till 7.50 in the evening.

Hooda was recently quizzed by the CBI in New Delhi in connection with alleged irregularities in the allotment of industrial plots in Panchkula in a separate case.

The agency had registered the case in September 2015 on allegations that private builders in conspiracy with unknown public servants of the Haryana government had purchased around 400 acres of land from farmers and land owners of village Manesar, Naurangpur and Gurgaon at throwaway prices.

The land was allegedly purchased showing the threat of acquisition by the government, during the period between August 27, 2004 and August 24, 2007.

In this process, initially, the Haryana government had issued a notification under the Land Acquisition Act for acquisition of land measuring about 912 acres for setting up an industrial model township at villages in Manesar, Naurangpur and Lakhnoula in Gurgaon.

After that, all the land had allegedly been grabbed from their owners by private builders under the threat of acquisition at meagre rates, the CBI had said after it had registered the case.

The CBI has alleged in its FIR that in the said manner, land measuring about 400 acres whose market value at that time was above Rs 4 crore per acre approximately totalling about Rs 1,600 crore was allegedly purchased by the private builders and others from the the land owners for only about Rs 100 crore.

A loss of Rs 1,500 crore was caused to the land owners of village Manesar, Naurangpur and Lakhnoula of Gurgaon, the agency said. PTI ABS KIS

This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.

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